The image features the full ten man crew standing and crouched in two rows and 8 crew members have signed in blue or black ink clear of the image, with many adding their ranks beneath their signature.

Similar to Enola Gay, which carried the Hiroshima bomb, and was named after the pilot's mother, Bockscar was named after the plane's regular aircraft commander, Captain Frederick C. Bock, who flew alongside Bockscar in another B-29 'The Great Artiste' on the Nagasaki mission.

The bomb itself was nicknamed 'Fat Man'.

'Fat Man' was actually destined for the city of Kokura but the crew found the city obscured by clouds and smoke from a previous bombing.

They had been given orders to only drop 'Fat Man' if the target was visible, so after three unsuccessful passes over Kokura, and after conferring with weaponeer Commander Frederick Ashworth, the crew agreed to strike the secondary target, Nagasaki

The use of these weapons was and remains controversial.

Bockscar is now on permanent display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

This is a superb piece of history that ultimately ended World War II being only the second, and thankfully, final, atomic bomb to be used in warfare.

Price: 950 ($1,570) SOLD. Sorry, this item has already been sold. To be the first to receive news alerts for new stock items please sign up for your free newsletter at the top of the page.